Terry Goddard makes case for reason

by E. J. Montini - Jul. 2, 2010 12:00 AMThe Arizona Republic

Last week, I wrote a column saying that Gov. Jan Brewer will win the November election.

Among those who took offense at an impudent newspaper writer proclaiming Brewer's victory months before the actual election was Arizona Attorney General Terry Goddard, Brewer's presumptive Democratic opponent.

After all, I offered no proof when I said Brewer had sealed her victory simply by signing Senate Bill 1070, or for my contention that Brewer will win even though she believes - in spite of evidence to the contrary - that the majority of illegal immigrants crossing the border are drug smugglers. (No news yet on the governor's view of the Easter Bunny or Tooth Fairy.)

Goddard's supporters thought it was unfair of me to have so casually dismissed him without having first given him an opportunity to make his case. So I talked to him.

And I now know with absolute certainty that . . . Brewer will win the election.

Goddard himself supplied all the evidence needed to draw such a conclusion when, on the topic of immigration, he said that it was possible to have a "reasonable discussion."

(Please stop laughing. It's not polite.)

"Immigration is not going to go off the radar screen, but I do think that it is susceptible to some hard and reasonable discussion," he said. "For 30 years, we have encouraged people to come into this country and work, put down roots, raise families. They have been part of our economy, and there has been no federal responsibility in terms of providing an adequate number of visas (for) the jobs we've had available. That is irresponsible."

Rather than spending a lot of the state's limited resources going after such people, Goddard's plan for immigration and border enforcement is to focus on crime syndicates.

"Unlike almost every other candidate, I have a definition for border security," he said. "I think it means stopping the organized criminal penetration of our border - the smuggling of drugs and human beings coming north and the smuggling of guns and money going south."

He believes that concentrating on the cartels is more effective than laws like SB 1070.

"By the governor's own admission, 1070 doesn't do anything to stop the cartels or the violent crime," he said. At the same time, Goddard points to a case prosecuted by his office, Operation River Walker, that led to the indictment of 48 individuals accused of smuggling 8,000 people per year into the country.

"All of Sheriff Arpaio's sweeps have brought in, what? A thousand people," he said. "Which approach is more effective?"

Unfortunately for Goddard, effective doesn't matter. Fear matters. Frightening people works. Brewer's campaign is based on scare tactics. Beating her would require Goddard to frighten people even more. But that isn't his plan. For one thing, he believes that immigration, while important, isn't the only issue.

"I am counting on Arizonans' commitment to the future," he said. "A commitment to schools. A commitment to restoring our economy. These are the important issues we are facing."

He's also waging a war against fear mongering.

"I thought tourism was important to Arizona," he said. "You'd never know it by the way the governor and the Legislature closed rest stops, tore apart the state park system and then used scare tactics in their campaigns."

As for politicians who make the outrageous promises and predictions about immigration, Goddard said, "The old adage bears some relevance here: 'It's not what you don't know that scares me. It's what you think you know.' "